Mount Domett The history of a mountain Mount Domett, Little Domett and Kohurau illuminated by moonlight, from Round Hill Road, Five Forks, North Otago. Photograph by Gordon Barney, PixNZ.Com Limited (August 1999, approximately 11:00 p.m.) Mount Domett, in North Otago, is situated at the southeastern end of the St. Marys Range, between Kurow to the northeast and Danseys Pass to the south, and is approximately 55 kilometres northwest of Oamaru. Although not the highest in coastal North Otago or in the range (Kohurau at 2009m/6592′ is the highest in both), Mount Domett at 1942m/6370′ and Little Domett at 1860m/6104′ are certainly the most prominent peaks of the skyline when viewed across the coastal North Otago landscape. Mount Domett and the other peaks of the St. Marys Range are often the objectives of tramping and mountaineering parties and with a variety of routes and terrain in both summer and winter conditions, this mountainous area has been well traversed on numerous occasions since the early twentieth century. On Wednesday, 14 August 2002, Mount Domett had the spelling of its name officially changed from „Domet‟ to „Domett‟, correcting the long-standing spelling error of the name of Alfred Domett, in honour of whom it was named. Alfred Domett was born at Camberwell Grove, Surrey, England on 20 May 1811, the sixth child to Nathaniel Domett and Elizabeth Curling. Lawyer, journalist, administrator and poet, Domett became premier of New Zealand from 6 August 1862 to 30 October 1863. He had already purchased land in the Nelson settlement in May 1842 before sailing out from England on the Sir Charles Forbes, arriving in August 1842. Having returned to England upon his retirement in 1871, his major literary work, ‘Ranolf and Amohia’, was published in London in 1872. He died in Kensington, London on 2 November 1887. This photograph of Alfred Domett (right) was probably taken in the 1870s, assuming that he was in his sixties at the time. Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa. Portrait of Alfred Domett. Reference Number: 1/4-003114; G. Photographer unknown. There is a Mount Domett named after him in the Nelson region as well and it would appear to have been named by James Mackay in 1856. This peak rises to 1645m/5400′ and is situated in the Domett Range of the Tasman Mountains and there is also a Domett Creek in the same vicinity. Amohia Peak (1542m/5060′), also in the Domett Range, and Mount Ranolf (1660m/5445′), in the nearby Peel Range, were obviously named in commemoration of Domett and his literary epic as well. The first European sighting of the North Otago coast was made by Captain James Cook (at that time, the rank of first lieutenant) commanding the H.M.S. Endeavour as it sailed south off the coastline of South Canterbury and North Otago on Friday, 23 February 1770. Their position at noon of that day was recorded by Cook as latitude 44° 44' S. (about the latitude of Waimate). In his journal he later wrote; “At sunset the weather, clearing up, presented to our view a high peaked mountain bearing N.W. by N., and at the same time we saw land more distinctly than at any time before, extending from N. to S.W. by S., the inland parts of which appeared to be high and mountainous.” First impressions might suggest that perhaps this “high peaked mountain” they observed was Mount Domett. However, by sunset their position, although further south, would have placed them due west of Mount Domett at latitude 44° 52' S., so it is therefore unlikely that this reference is to the peak of Domett. Although it is the most prominent mountain in the area, the bearing given of N.W. by N. from their position, places this “high peaked mountain” (hardly an apt description of Mount Domett anyway) too far north for it to have been Mount Domett. Mount Domett, in North Otago, was named by Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell. He was born on 11 March 1820 in Lewes, Sussex, England and died 7 September 1895 in Wellington and was the son of distinguished surgeon and geologist Dr. Gideon Mantell. Walter Mantell journeyed to North Otago in an official capacity as „Commissioner of the extinguishment of native titles in the middle (South) island of New Zealand‟, having been appointed to this position in August 1848 by Governor George Grey. On Tuesday, 24 October 1848, Mantell and his party of nine, which included surveyor Alfred Wills, crossed the Waitaki River from the north bank and made their way to the kaika (village) of Maori chief Te Huruhuru at Te Puna a maru (north of Awamoko). Upon their arrival, however, they found the kaika to be vacant. The following day, Wednesday, 25 October 1848, Mantell recorded in his diary as being “very fine”. They spent the day waiting for Te Huruhuru who they were later to learn had taken ill with influenza at Waikouaiti. It is safe to assume that this is the day that Mantell named Mount Domett, as is evident by the titled and dated sketch he drew in some detail from Te Puna a maru (see Page 9). Little did he realise though that the local Maori referred to the mountain as „Te Huruhuru‟, in honour of the chief who would become great assistance to him as a local reference and historian. Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa. Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell, circa 1870. Reference Number: 35mm-00129-e; F. Photographer: William Henshaw Clarke. This photograph of Walter Mantell (above) was taken about 1870, assuming he was approximately 50 years old at the time. When he named Mount Domett in October 1848, he was 28 years old. Alfred Domett was well known to Mantell and at the time of Mantell‟s visit to North Otago, Domett held the position of „Colonial Secretary for New Munster‟ (South Island). As premier of New Zealand from 1862 to 1863, Domett appointed Mantell as „Secretary for Crown Lands‟ and for a few weeks, „Postmaster General‟. In his official capacity as „Commissioner of the extinguishment of native titles in the middle island of New Zealand‟, Mantell‟s primary task was to survey and allocate Maori reserves prior to European settlement. In this official capacity Commissioner Mantell obviously felt sufficiently empowered to assign European names to many of the local geographic features. As well as Mount Domett, he also named Cape Wanbrow and a number of other features that did not become established due to the acceptance of existing local names. For example, Mantell named Oamaru Creek - „Hemans‟, Waikoura Stream - „Keatsbourne‟, Awamoko - „Chatterton‟ and a prominent coastal outcrop at Pukeuri, „Point Sigourney‟. At one point he even wrote to the Colonial Secretary to have the Waitaki River renamed the „Molesworth‟ or the „Shakespeare‟. „Awamoa‟ is also one of Mantell‟s names. It is not true Maori, however, but something that he simply made up. The remainder of Mantell‟s North Otago survey took him as far south as Waikouaiti and he made a couple of journeys back and forth via Moeraki and Otepopo (Herbert) during that October - November 1848 period. In December 1852 Mantell returned once again to North Otago, this time as „Commissioner of Crown Lands for Otago‟, based in Dunedin. He explored the region more fully, from Cape Wanbrow and up the Waitaki River as far as Pukewhinau (Coal Stream, Lake Waitaki). He wrote an extensive report on the area, detailing his opinions on the quality of pasture, building supplies and the availability of local fuel, namely wood and coal. He reported that there were 50 to 100 acres of forest (totara) growing on the foothills of Mount Domett at that time. He also made sketches and notes of the limestone cliff paintings of Takiroa near Duntroon and on Wednesday, 15 December 1852, he made his most detailed drawing of the mountains from his camp at Waikaura, east of the Otekaieke River. It is unknown as to who may have first ascended Mount Domett. Considering the period of settlement that followed Mantell‟s exploration of 1852, it is most likely that one of the early landowners or a shepherd in their employment would have ascended the mountain for the purpose of exploring the grazing potential around it. Otekaieke Station was established on 11 September 1854, the first occupier being Samuel Helier Pike when he was given a lease dated 22 November 1854. Early the following year he sold out to John Parkin Taylor, who then sold to William Heywood Dansey in 1857 before Robert Campbell bought him out in 1871. Dansey was one of the early explorers who ventured through the pass that now bears his name. Danseys Pass was an important link between North Otago and Central Otago but Dansey doubted that it was he who discovered it. Regardless, the crossing of Danseys Pass on farming business is one thing, but to go out of your way to make an arduous ascent of Mount Domett, purely for the adventure of it, is quite another. But, since no record exists of any known first ascent of the mountain, it is impossible to bestow that honour upon any one person. Exactly nine years after Walter Mantell named Mount Domett, chief surveyor of Otago, John Turnbull Thomson, began his reconnaissance survey of North Otago on Saturday, 24 October 1857. It appears unlikely that it was he who gave the name, „St. Marys Range‟, to the extensive system of mountains overlooking the Waitaki Valley, known to the local Maori as „Te Ake‟.